Archive

If you are getting this email you have sometime been a client of mine — Thank you for your past custom!

Please note, there will be no March version of this Update because I will be freezing in the UK...

1. iPhone/iPad:The Daily is free for 2 weeks on your iPad then $1.19 per week. The first daily ‘newspaper’ but it’s from New Limited...so journalistic content is tepid.ABC iView for the iPad is wonderful. Catch up with ABC TV programs you missed.Mappiness is one of those fantastic off-the-wall free apps for the iPhone. It’s UK based but anyone can participate: after a signup it will beep you once or twice a day and ask how you’re feeling. The data is sent back anonymously and used in research about what causes happiness!http://www.mappiness.org.uk/ A story about it:http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/13/bright-idea-mappiness-happiness-app

2. SlothCam!:What a name! This is a widget that lets you view any webcam around the world. Locate the webcam of your choice and enter it’s URL (web address from the browser, Safari or Firefox) and view it. Unlimited amount of cameras can be added and there are webcams all over the world. Surfers can add their favourite beach breaks. A version for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and a Dashboard widget for the computer. Free and fun.http://www.jackson-myers.com/Software/SlothCamiOS/http://www.jackson-myers.com/Software/SlothCamWidget/

3. WolframAlpha, A Different Search Engine:We all use Google for everything to do with search, but this can be frustrating when you want intelligent responses not a list of websites. WolframAlpha is now the “largest integrated data set in the world”, which means you can ask it ‘how long is the Amazon river?’ and get a reply in 2 seconds. Perhaps we will all move to this sort of intelligent search over time, but meanwhile I am keeping a link to it in my toolbar for those questions that want an answer rather than a list of web pages.http://www.wolframalpha.com/ An interview with the founder:http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/12/stephen-wolfram-alpha-interview-google

5. Magic Mouse and Trackpad Expansion:jitouch is a little $7 utility that expands the options of the Magic Mouse and all track pads, offering different gestures beyond those Apple include as standard. You can fully customise it’s features to suit your use.http://www.jitouch.com/

7. Our Password Security:We all have passwords for a variety of things: the user password on the computer, banking login, Amazon account, etc, etc. Many people have tended to use the same easy to remember password for everything...well those simple, carefree days are over! Cyber crime is getting more widespread and although we don’t yet have any Spyware on the Mac platform it is time to get serious about security. I have begun changing all my passwords to ones that are more difficult to crack. This usually means having at least one number and capital letter in it. But please keep a record of the passwords you use! And not on a tatty piece of paper either. You can keep an electronic record of them or use an application like 1Password that remembers them all for you, then you just need to remember 1 password. Or Wallet or many others in a similar vein.

8. Wallet:Wallet promises secure synching over the net to a database of your data kept by them. It says it will keep it all in sync so you can access your passwords and other critical data on your Mac or iPhone/iPad. $20 for the computer version and $5 for the iPhone. 7 day free trial to see if it works for you.http://www.acrylicapps.com/wallet/

10. Shave for Simple Video Editing:Although there is iMovie and Final Cut Pro for video editing, often all that you need a simple editor to cut and trim video without all the bells and whistles. Shave is that application. Great for cutting, chopping and splicing footage and for trimming and converting video. $10.http://shavevideo.com/

11. iGlasses to Control Your Web Camera:All modern Macs have an iSight camera built-in but without any means to control it apart from adding the effects in Photo Booth. With this $10 app you can change the brightness, contrast, colour and even pan and zoom your image. Heaps of extra effects and free to try for 7 days this really transforms the camera.http://www.ecamm.com/mac/iglasses/

12. The Book Depository:As competition to Amazon these guys offer free shipping world wide! Considering that I usually find postage costs as much as the book when I buy from Amazon, this has to be worth a look.http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

13. Helping With Remote Computer Modelling:Several organisations want use our computers to model climate change when we have them sitting idle, perhaps while we are out. It requires huge computing power to do this so they co-opt idle machines to run climate simulations over the internet when the owners aren’t using them. Apart from climate change there are heaps of different projects on the go so you download the software and choose a project when you open it.http://climateprediction.net/ and the software to run the modelling is athttp://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php

14. A Reminder of My Rates:I charge $88 per hour including GST. No call-out fee or travel charge in the Byron Shire.Half hour minimum.Telephone support costs the same in 15 minute increments.

Email support is still free! Please include plenty of detail in your email inquiries.Serving the Byron Macintosh community for over 10 years.

Items for Saleis a free monthly service for my Mailing List. If you want to list something for sale send me the full description/specifications and contact details. Goes out around 14th of the month.